In the field of popcorn popping, it is well known that the most desirable popcorn is popped at a high temperature. It is also well known that popcorn kernels which remain in contact with such a temperature will burn and such burned kernels will not pop. Therefore, it is well known that the popcorn kernels must be agitated to prevent individual kernels from burning, the agitation preventing both popped and unpopped kernels from sticking to the bottom surface of the cooking vessel. It is also known that such agitation inhibits the unpopped kernels to fall to the bottom as other kernels pop and move toward the top of the vessel. In order to agitate the popcorn, several methods have been used. In poppers which use heated oil to pop popcorn, these methods typically include one or more fingers which are rotated about the bottom surface of the cooking vessel or which are oscillated about the vessel bottom to sweep substantially the entire bottom surface during each repetition. Typical of the art are those devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 110,916 issued to L. Houcke on Jan. 10, 1871; 312,612 issued to G.T. Copeland on Feb. 24, 1885; 1,642,531 issued to T.V. Barnard on Sept. 13, 1927; 1,689,265 issued to A.R. Walker on Oct. 30, 1928; 2,113,041 issued to B.A. Benson on Apr. 5, 1938; 2,441,941 issued to A.F. Shafter on May 18, 1948; and 4,202,256 issued to R.S.H. Brooks on May 13, 1980. Each of these inventions includes up to four fingers extending radially from a vertical shaft designed to rotate the fingers about the bottom of the respective popping vessel to agitate unpopped kernels, with the exception of the 312,612 and 1,689,265 patents. The 312,612 patent includes a pair of paddles spaced apart vertically, as opposed to fingers, the paddles being used to push popped corn out of the popping vessel and into a corn receptacle, as opposed to agitating unpopped kernels along the bottom surface of the vessel. The 1,689,265 invention is designed to oscillate the fingers about the bottom of the vessel at such an angle of rotation as to ensure that the entire circumference of the vessel is swept.
It is also well known that for best popping results, a consistent heat should be applied throughout the contact surface. If the contact surface is not consistently heated, popcorn in the hotter spots will pop while the cooler spots will not render as high a percentage of popping. When the popcorn is agitated across a surface which does not have a consistent temperature, the kernels will not maintain a constant temperature increase and will thus take longer to pop. In this situation there will also be a lower popping rate and a less desireable quality of the popped corn. When using a typically round popping vessel, it is known that the consistently higher temperature is toward the center of the vessel, with the outer edges showing the greatest reduction in heat. It is well known that when engaging a paddle or finger to agitate popcorn in a circular manner, tangential forces will tend to drag the popcorn to the outer edges of the vessel. The 1,642,531 patent solves this problem, but in doing so, the concavity of the vessel causes the popcorn to fall toward the center of the vessel thus being piled in the center. This is not desirable, though, because it is known that popcorn will pop more efficiently when a larger percentage of the popcorn is contacting the cooking surface.
It is desireable, then, to have a popping vessel which includes a substantially flat bottom surface on which the popcorn is placed and which is placed in contact with a heating source. It is also desireable to include an agitator for preventing the popcorn from sticking to the cooking surface and thereby burning. It is further desireable to provide a means for drawing the unpopped kernels toward the center of the cooking surface while allowing the kernels to remain in substantially a single layer. None of the devices above provide an adequate means for preventing the unpopped kernels of corn from jamming the fingers or blades while also drawing the unpopped kernels toward the center of the vessel, preventing the unpopped kernels from sticking, and providing a substantially flat heating surface with a substantially consistent temperature throughout.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a popcorn popper with a stirring mechanism designed to agitate the popcorn kernels on a flat cooking surface.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a popcorn popper with a stirring mechanism designed to prevent popcorn from jamming.
Another object of this invention is to provide a popcorn popper with a stirring mechanism which is designed to draw the unpopped kernels toward the center of the cooking surface.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a popcorn popper with a stirring mechanism which may be adjusted to an elevation slightly above the cooking surface of the popper such that popcorn kernels will be engaged as the stirring mechanism is rotated, thereby preventing kernels from sticking to the cooking surface.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a popcorn popper which may be manufactured more cost efficiently.